Liberal Democratic Party wins in Japan Elections

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 14, 2014) — The White House Office of the Press Secretary issued an official statement on the results of the Japanese Elections.

On behalf of the President and people of the United States, we congratulate Prime Minister Abe on the Liberal Democratic Party’s success in the elections in Japan today.

The U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. We appreciate Prime Minister Abe’s strong leadership on a wide range of regional and global issues, from typhoon relief in the Philippines, to the Ebola response, to the international fight against ISIL.

The United States looks forward to deepening our close alliance cooperation with the government and people of Japan to promote global and regional security and prosperity, and bilateral cooperation on defense guidelines revision, TPP and maritime security.

The Parliament of Japan, the National Diet, is composed of a lower house, the House of Representatives (Shugiin), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Sangiin). Both houses must pass all legislative bills before they can become law. Nonetheless, the House of Representatives has greater legislative power than the House of Councillors: bills passed by the House of Representatives but rejected by the House of Councillors become law if they are approved on a subsequent House of Representatives vote by a two-thirds (or greater) majority. Moreover, in the event of a disagreement between the two houses concerning the budget, treaties or the designation of a prime minister – Japan’s head of government – the House of Representatives has the final word.

The House of Representatives is composed of 480 members elected for a maximum term of four years by universal adult suffrage at the age of 20. A total of 300 seats are filled in single-member districts by the first-past-the-post method, under which the candidate obtaining the largest number of votes in each district is elected to office. The remaining 180 seats are apportioned in eleven electoral blocs (multi-member constituencies) according to the largest average method of proportional representation conceived by Belgian mathematician Victor D’Hondt.

The House of Councillors’ 242 members are elected for a six-year term of office. A total of 146 seats are filled in forty-seven prefectural districts or constituencies by the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) system, under which electors cast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidates with the largest number of votes in each district, up to the number of seats to be filled, are elected to office. The remaining 96 seats are distributed on a nationwide basis by the D’Hondt method. Half the members of the House of Councillors are elected every three years.

Unlike the House of Representatives, the House of Councillors has a fixed term of office and cannot be dissolved by the Prime Minister.